A General Compulsory Intermingling

The problem of race relationships has been a problem of this nation for a century and a half, and it is likely to be a problem for decades to come. It cannot be solved quickly; it will require the patient good will of many generations. It cannot be solved by fanatic mouthings of either race or by pressure politics; least of all can the Army solve it.

Above all, the Army must remain the Army. Its goal must be efficiency and high morale and any steps needed to attain those twin objectives must be taken. It would be fully as unwise to require by law or edict a general compulsory intermingling of the races in all tactical units as it would be to require by law or edict, as once was done, complete segregation by divisional or regimental units.

The article was written by Hanson Baldwin, the long-time military reporter for the New York Times. Baldwin was a Naval Academy graduate and won a Pulitzer for his reporting in World War II. He had strong connections within the military, which gave him access to stories he might not otherwise have gotten. In return, as the Times obituary put it in 1991:

His articles, many marked “military analysis,” were often more than reportorial, blending his own opinions and those of the nation’s military chiefs into the news of specific military situations, so that what emerged was a broader view of strategic considerations and their national and international political implications.

This was either Baldwin repeating the military’s position for them, in such a way that they could deny it, or the writing of someone so close to them that the difference was quite small.

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I hate when I don’t bookmark stuff so I can find it again, so I am asking you to do my work for me. I read a while back a…blog post? ….article?….account of someone’s research? that argued that the racial integration of the military was not driven by Truman. He gave the order, but also gave the chiefs a tremendous amount of wiggle room, so that in the name of military efficiency they could delay integration for ages, and that was what they set out to do. What really integrated the Army at least was the war in Korea, which meant that commanders who needed 100 replacements could choose between 10 white ones or 50 black ones, and, not surprisingly they chose to integrate their units. Obviously there are some parallels to the current situation.

Did you read that somewhere? Where was it? I keep wanting to cite it in various contexts, but “I saw it somewhere on the Internet” really weakens your authority

What’s refreshing is that Admiral Mullen & so many other active-duty general & flag officers obviously recall that historic reluctance and appear to have learned from it. Those old retired farts, on the other hand…..

Clay Blair’s “The Forgotten War” is a good combat history (down to the battalion level) of Korea in 1950-51, and covers the integration of the 8th Army’s combat units pretty well – along with a lot of other issues.